Seal for pipe-line fittings



Feb. 22, 1949. L. s. HAMER 2,462,493

SEAL FOR PIPE LINE FITTINGS Filed July 19, 1944" v INVENTOR.

Patented Feb. 22, 1949 sear. FOB PIPE-LINE FITTINGS i S. 'I Iam er, LongBeach, Calif.. assignor of one-fourth to Paul A. Dewhirst, Los Angeles,'

Calif.

, Application July 19,1944, Serial No. 545,602

, This invention has 3' Claims. (Chills-44) to do-with a seal for pipeline fittings such as orifice fittings or line blinds and it is ageneral object of the present invention a blinding plate or orificeplate.

.to provide a simple, practical and improved seal for acting between twoelements of a fitting, forexample, between a body part and a'plate,either Pipe line fittings such as orifice fittin s or linev blinds orcombinations of orifice fittings and line. blinds require seals or aseal at the plate. Theseal in such a device is annular in form andserves- The usual seal-employed in devices of this kind to preventleakage from the fitting atthe plate.

is in the form of a gasket or is a packing ring of ordinaryform, forinstance, rectangular in cross section, set in a. groove in one of theparts either in the plate or in the bodyof the fitting,

It is an object of this invention to provide an improved packing ringthat seals against ordinary leakage without the application of greatclamping pressure to the fitting. With theordinary sealing means. thatis, with the ordinary packing ring, or with a gasket, the seal iseffected by the application of clamping pressure and if the fittingoperates underanyappreciable head it is usually necessary toapplygreatclarnping pressure to the'fitting" before the seal becomeeiiective or tight.

The device of the present invention is such that a seal is made and iseffective from the time the parts are brought together and leakage ischecked long before final clamping pressure is applied.

It is a general object of the present invention to provide a packing ofthe type hereinabove referred to which is eifect'ive in making a sealupon the parts being brought together initially,

and is also effective when the parts are tightened or clamped togetherwith great force such as is ordinarily applied to fittings of thecharacter under consideration.

Another object of my invention is to provide a seal of the characterreferred to which is extremely simple in form, easy to handle, andinexpensive of manufacture.

The various objects and features of my invention will be fullyunderstood from the following detailed description of a typicalpreferred form and application of my invention, throughout whichdescription reference is made to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. l is a longitudinal detailed sectional view of a fitting involvingthe present invention showing it connected in a pipe line. Fig. 2 is aface view or side elevation of the plate section of the fitting showingit alone. Fig. 3 is a longi- 2' tudinal sectional .view ing a view takenas indicated by line 3-4011 Fig, 2, and Fig. 4 'isjanenlarged detailedsectional view showing the packing means provided.

The. device or structure of the present invention is applicable,generally, to pipe line fittings,

vfor instance, either .to orifice fittings or to line blinds, and inaccordance with the broader aspects'of the invention the packingmeansproper provided by the invention canbe carried either by a part of thebody o'f'the fittingor by the plate'employed in' the fitting; In theparticular case] illustrated I have shown a fitting which is acombination line blind and orifice fitting and I- have sh0wn,- forexample, the packing means I carried by or confined :to the plates, itbeing understood that my invention contemplates the reversal'that I havejust referred to.

The structure illustrated in the drawings involves, generally, a fittingA for use in a pipe line B, the fitting being shown connected betweentwo sections Ill and II of the pipe line B. The fitting involves,generally, two body sections l2 joined to the ends of the pipe sectionsl0 and II in opposed relation, a plate unit C to 'act between' the bodysections, means D for clamping the body sections together with the platesection between them and sealing means E acting" between the platesection and one or both of the body sections. In the case illustrated Ihave shown sealing means E carried by the plate section and haveprovided sealing meansat both sides of the plate section so that a sealis made between the plate and both body sections.

The sections I! of the body of the fitting form extensions orcontinuations of the pipe line parts ill and II and in the caseillustrated are shown welded to the pipe line parts at l3. The bodysections have fiat finished opposed inner end faces H between which theplate section of the fitting is arranged. In the particular fitting i1-lustrated the body sections have clrcumferen tially spaced projectionsI! which project radially and carry the clamping means D. There may bevarious numbers of projections on the body sections, for instance, it ispractical to provide of the plate section be-. I

opposite body projection on the other body section, and a couplingmember l8 joining the blocks. The blocks are spool-like parts seatedinthe projections l and retained in seated engagement with the projectionsby'keys l9. Each block has one or .more fiat sides (not shown) engagingthe bodysection to which it is applied so that it is held againstturning.

\The coupling member I 8 has a threaded end 20 threaded into the block16 and has a plain tu ed end 2| rotatably supported inan opening 22provided through the block H. A head 23 is provided on the member [8adjacent the outer end of the block'll'l to provide a part to be engagedby a tool. The head presents a shoulder portion 24 which fits against oropposes the block I ll. In the preferred arrangement anti-frictionmembers or bearings 25 are provided between the turned part 2i and thewall of the bore 22 and thrust bearing members 26 are provided betweenthe outer end of the block l1 and the shoulder 24. g

Ports 29 are provided in the member 1850 that v lubricant can beintroduced through a fitting 30 at one end of the member to reach thethreads between the member and block l6 and the bearings between memberl8 and the block I'l.

With the construction just described as the member I8 is rotated thethreads serve to either draw the blocks I6 and I! together or urge themapart, depending upon the direction of rotation of the member l8" Theblocks being secured to the projections on the body sections I2 carrythe body sections with them and thus the body sections can be operatedeither toward each other or can be moved apart, as desired.

The plate member C of the fitting that I have illustrated involves ablind .plate 30 at one end and an orifice plate 3| at the other end. Thetwo platesare joined-by spaced webs 32 which straddle one of the membersl8 joining the body sections [2. The construction is such that when thebody sections 12 are suitablyseparated the plate section can bemanipulated'to bring either the blind plate 30 or the orifice plate-3|into position between the opposing end faces N of the sections l2. InFig. 1 I have shown the blind plate 30 in this position.

My present invention involves, the sealing means E between a bodysection and a plate. In practice a unit of the present invention can bearranged between each side of the plate and each body section or asingle unit of the invention can be employed at the side of the platesubject to pressure. I have shown four units of packing embodying theinvention in that I have shown packing units at both sidesof each of theplates of the plate section C. I will describe one of the packing units.it being understood that the description is. equally applicable to allof them.

In accordance with my invention the packing is confined to or carried byone of the sections to be sealed and in the drawings is shown applied tothe plate section to cooperate with the finished sealing face M of oneof the body sections.

The packing carrying section is provided with a groove 50 annular inform to surround the opening through the fitting or through the bodysection against which the packing is to operate. The groove 50 ispreferably formed with undercut side walls 5| so that it effectivelyretains the packing ring that I am about to describe. Fig. 4 of thedrawings I have shown the undercut formation just referred to and haveexaggerated the pitch of the side walls for purpose of illustration.

The packing unit involves an annular rin of packing, preferably 'aresilient ring formed of rubber or rubber-like material. If the fittingis to be employed to handle hydrocarbons, or the like, I employ asynthetic rubber of a' type that glilanot be attacked by the materialbeing han- The packing ring 60 involves, generally, a base portion 6|which extends into and is retained by the groove 50, a projectingportion 62, and a sealing lip 63. The base portion of the ring may bemade to fit the shape of the groove or to approximately fit the groove50 so that it is firmly held therein when arranged as shown in Fig. 4.

' The projecting portion 62 of the ring projects a suitable distanceabove or beyond the outer or sealing face 65 of the section in which thegroove is formed and is preferably formed or finished with a smoothcontinuous sealing face 66 to oppose the finished face I4 of the othersection. In practice I prefer to proportion the ring so that the face 66which is annular in form is fairly wide, as I have shown throughout thedrawings.

In accordance with my invention I provide a V-shaped notch 10 in thecorner of the ring 60 formed by the sealing face 66 and the innermostside II to form or establish the sealing lip 63.

I shape and proportion the notch 10 so the sealing lip is tapered asclearly shown in Fig. 4. The outer end of the lip comes to an edge 15.The edge 15 of the lip being thin or pointed is .fiexible and willreadily seal with the face It upon fluid pressure being exerted tendingto leak out are operated so that the faces 14 and are brought togetheror into close relationship, in which case the projecting portion 62 ofthe ring is compressed or deflected inward, with the result that theentire packing ring is put under compression with the result that itbears tightly against the face l4 and tightly in the groove 50, thusestablishing and maintaining a highly efficient seal. Even under thecondition of compression the lip 63 continues to function and thussupplements the sealing action gained by sheer compression; It will benoted from an examination of Fig. 4 of the drawings that the notch 10 isformed deep enough in the ring 6-3 to extend somewhat inward beyond theface 65 so that the lip 63 will at all times be such that pressure offluid will be acting on it to urge it out against the face I4. I

Having described only a typical preferred form and application of myinvention, I do not wish to be limited or restricted to'the specificdetails herein set forth, but wishto reserve to myself any variations ormodifications that may appear to those skilled in the art and fallwithin the scope of the following claims:

Having described my invention, I claim:

1. In a pipe line fitting, two sections, one a.

body section with an opening therethrough and the other a plate sectionarranged at the opening, the sections having opposing faces, and sealingmeans around the opening including a packing ring carried in a groove inone face and having a projecting portion projecting beyond the groovedface, there being a V-shaped notch in the inner corner of the projectingportion forming a tapered lip facing the opening.

2. Ina pipe line fitting, two sections, one a body section with anopening therethrough and the other a plate section arranged at theopening, the sections having opposing faces, and sealing means aroundthe opening including a packing ring carried in a groove in one face andhaving a projecting portion projecting beyond the grooved face, therebeing a V-shaped notch in the inner corner of the projecting portionforming a tapered lip facing the opening, the notch extending inwardbeyond the grooved face.

3. In a fluid handling device, two sections arranged together andsubjected to fluid under pressure and having flat opposed faces, one ofthe sections having an annular groove in one face opposing the otherface, the groove having flat inwardly divergent side walls and a packingring retained in the groove-and having a notch Number Name Date 189,477Lightburne, Jr. Apr. 10, 1877 494,402 Walsh Mar. 28, 1893 15 1,603,903Church Oct. 19, 1926 1,869,577 Oberhuber 11118.2, 1932 1,953,110 HoltaneApr. 3, 1934 1,965,826 Daniel July 10, 1934 2,014,682 Greene Sept. 17,1935 20 2,081,040 King May 18, 1937 2,102,072 Hinterliter Dec. 14, 19372,278,849 Hamer Apr. 7, 1942 FOREIGN PATENTS 25 Number Country Date595,332 France Sept. 30, 1925 in one outer corner facing inward andtoward the other section forming a tapered sealing lip projecting fromsaid face to engage the other section and seal therewith.

LELAND S. HAMER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS

